Today's #AtoZChallenge post is all about length. For Writers, I'll discuss how long the book should be. For Readers, I talk about long-winded picture book titles (that are so good anyway).

The Long and Short of it

To keep this blog as short as possible, I'll just get right to it...

For Writers: How Long is my Book?

The length of your book depends on the age category you are writing for. Bitsy Kemper made a handy graphic about how long a book should be, from board books to young adult.

Now, this graphic shows how many pages a published book is. When I format my manuscript to submit to agents or editors, I usually don't show where the page turns will be at all. Instead, I indicate a possible page turn bygoing to the next...line.I generally try to keep my word count 500 words and that takes up 5 manuscript pages or less.

For Readers: Long-Winded Titles

Most picture book titles are 6 words or less, but there are some really great titles that push that limit. Tara Lazar wrote a post about some of her favorites. Here is a long list of titles she didn't mention (mostly because many of them are more recent or upcoming):

Links:

I got an idea from a fellow blogger who lists the blogs she follows for the #AtoZChallenge. ​ Well, I follow many more blogs than I'd ever hope to read each day, but I do like to flit around and visit some of my fellow bloggers during this month. Here are five I visited yesterday: ​

Hi Jen,
Visiting from the A to Z.
Depending on genre, the "rules" can be more like rough guidelines. Many of the fantasy subgenres (MG fantasy, YA fantasy) really push the envelope with word counts, and readers expect these kinds of stories to be longer, with lush world building. The Septimus Heap books are a good MG example, and Harry Potter 4-7 exemplify this for YA.
http://laurelgarver.blogspot.com/2017/04/l-love.html